Nationals Journal: February 28, 2010 - March 6, 2010

I'll provide periodic updates throughout the game. ... 4:06: The Nationals entered today with a 12.75 ERA, and that has gone up. Sean Burnett blew up in the ninth inning. The Mets greeted him with a single and a double...

First, a quick update on catcher Jesus Flores, who is recovering from surgery on the labrum in his right shoulder: He still has not swung a bat this spring and he has still not set any kind of timetable for...

With John Lannan, the likely Opening Day starter, getting his first spring start today at Space Coast Stadium against the Mets, this is the lineup that wll be behind him: Nationals 1. Nyjer Morgan, CF 2. Cristian Guzman, DH 3....

The Washington Nationals are leaning toward naming John Lannan their Opening Day starter, but the decision has not yet been finalized, manager Jim Riggleman said this morning. The Nationals have aligned their rotation to let Lannan pitch April 5 versus...

A team's best player is going to lead his teammates, but that doesn't mean he'll lead them in the right direction. That's one slice of why the Nationals feel so fortunate to have Ryan Zimmerman on their side. Zimmerman is...

I'll provide some periodic updates throughout the game .... 4:10 Change of plans -- I'm back up for the end. The Nationals lost, 11-8, but Ian Desmond helped his chaces to stick with the team with six RBI and a...

Last season, Roger Bernadina flashed his vast potential as an outfielder on the same play that torpedoed his progress toward fulfilling it. In the eighth inning of his first start of the season, Bernandina raced back to the centerfield wall,...

The first time Drew Storen climbed a mound with the Nationals this spring training, pitching coach Steve McCatty watched Storen work furiously. Pitch, catch the ball, pitch. It was the Day 1 of pitchers and catchers, and this was supposed...

Reliever Jason Bergmann, one of two Washington Nationals pitchers who surrendered a home run on his very first pitch on the very first day of spring training games, summarized the feeling in the Nationals clubhouse afterward. "The good thing is,"...

Austin Kearns came to the Washington Nationals via the signature trade of the Jim Bowden era -- the eight-player deal with the Cincinnati Reds in July 2006 -- and departed, 3 ½ years and $17.5 million later, as one of...

The Nationals are taking batting practice here at Osceola County Stadium, preparing for their first game of spring training. It's a day players have been looking forward to. "It's been a while," catcher Wil Nieves said while playing catch by...

Spring training means different things to different players. Some use it as a tuneup. Some use it as an argument for why they should be on the roster. Some, like Jordan Zimmermann, use it as a means to recover. For...

This is the toughest part of the year for Jack McGeary. "Definitely," he said. From noon to 4:30 p.m., he worked out with the rest of the Nationals' accelerated camp, which was normal enough. But here's guessing McGeary is the...

In 2001, about a year after the Chicago White Sox drafted him as a shortstop in the third round, Mike Morse met Alex Rodriguez in Florida. Morse stands 6-5, the kind of frame that turns shortstops into something else. Rodriguez...

Below are the lineups for tomorrow's split-squad games for the Nationals. Josh Willingham isn't in either, but he is scheduled to arrive in Viera tonight, and he's doing well. Cristian Guzman is not, either; he's likely headed back to Washington...

Garrett Mock, one of the multitude of candidates to fill an Opening Day rotation spot for the Nationals, will make his first appearance Thursday in a split-squad game. Mock finished last season in the rotation, and his place this season,...

All of the starting positions in the Nationals spring training, like first base, have more or less been decided. The bench is an entirely different matter. Willie Harris and Wil Nieves are basic locks, and after them the wheat...

On Sunday, the Nationals broke their huddle after stretching by chanting "U-S-A!" It was directed at Pete Orr, a Canadian, on the morning of the gold medal hockey game. Yesterday, Orr got some revenge. He put on a Canada...

Wind and rain kept away the crowds to the point that Stephen Strasburg's live batting practice session this morning felt pretty much normal. His stuff, of course, is still anything but. He faced Eric Bruntlett, Willy Taveras, Roger Bernadina,...

From Dan Steinberg's D.C. Sports Bog, more on the "Nyjer Morgan used to play hockey" story. Leave it to Comcast SportsNet, though, to get something I hadn't previously seen: video of young Tony Plush whizzing around on skates. I'm not...

Jesus Flores is not feeling defeated in his rehab from shoulder surgery, but there are days he comes close. Yesterday, he wanted to throw 120 feet, but the weakness in his right should wouldn't let him move past 90. He...

There is little doubt Stephen Strasburg will begin this year as a minor leaguer, and yet his launching point -- like his bullpen sessions and everything else he does -- remains a dominant topic of discussion. This morning, manager Jim...

First, the Nationals say they expect to win. And now they've gone and got, as Boz writes, "real pitchers." The influx of candidates to fill rotation spots behind John Lannan, Jason Marquis and a healthy Scott Olsen has created a...

One year ago today, Jim Bowden walked to the center of the Nationals clubhouse, a Starbucks coffee cup in his hand, and told the players, "I am resigning as general manager of the Washington Nationals." Bowden, after four years...

Not often does live batting practice on a back field in March reveal much about a new player's character. But today, throwing his second such session of the spring, Brian Bruney showed something about the kind of pitcher the...

This morning before the Nationals began their fundamental drill for the day (first-and-third situations), Adam Dunn provided the most un-fundamental drill of spring camp. He walked to the mound, grabbed a ball, and started to pitch. Dunn threw about...

The final makeup of the Nationals bullpen, like the makeup of their bench and the makeup of the back end of their starting rotation, is a murky matter. Matt Capps, Brian Bruney and Sean Burnett are locks, while Tyler Clippard...

There are two sides to Rafael Martin's story and how he arrived in the Nationals spring training accellerated camp, the incredible career path and the business. Martin has become a potential big leaguer after Hollywood twists -- he worked for...

Jim Riggleman has mapped out who will pitch once spring training games begin, giving the ball to J.D. Martin and Garrett Mock for the two split-squad games March 4 at Florida and at Houston. On March 5, Miguel Batista will...

Left fielder Josh Willingham did not arrive at Nationals spring training today and it will be "a few more days yet, at least" until he does, Manager Jim Riggleman said. Willingham's wife gave birth to a son last Tuesday night,...

Every day, Jim Riggleman focuses on one fundamental piece of team defense and then runs the Nationals through the drill. Yesterday, as you see above, they worked on run downs. Elijah Dukes sent the team into stitches at one...